The Columbus journal., 1887-11-02

harsh. and as the house happened to !.
otherwise unusually quiet, she could ds
tlnctly hear it in the distance from th'
kitchen for an hour before he finally tool
his leave. She had by this time grown
quite attached to Tilda, and she ;nstinc
lively feared trouble. ''I'l wait and see, ,
she said. She was accordingly somewhat
! on the alert, md at the end of two weeks
was sure that he had spent three evenings
with Tilda. So she determined on an in
terview As before, she waited unit
TIIda was at leisure and alone, and then
went to her, armed for war. but wary
You have had several visits from q
new friend lately, Tilda," she said, with
Q pleasant smile; lis he a relation"
Tilda looked conscious, and crimped hel
apron hem uncOmfOrtably. 1t was a mo
ment before she spoke: ''Das been. yOOne
man com sometime hare, but dey's good
man, dey's all time to de shursh."
As the Swedish church was notoriously
! the one common place of meeting of all
the young working people of that nation
7! in the city, Mrs. LOring had her doubts
US to the singleness of motive which in
fluenced the young mans devotion to the
sanctuary; but she kept this question of
| casuistry to herself, and also withheld
| any comment upon TilGa's ignoring Of
her question as to relationship, and aimed
! directly at the point of what h came to
say.
Il nave no fault to find with the young
man, Tilda, but / was thinking of that
nice lover of yours in Sweden. You
mustn't forget him."
Tilda laughed. ''Oh, das all right.
Aieesis LO'ing," she said. ''yOOng gels
! must hev sometime lettle fOOn. He'll
trus' me''-with a little head toss ''Das
all right"
Mrs. LOring looked and felt doubtful,
but she remembered the many girls in her
own circle who also had "a Iettle foOn,"
and feeling, like the Vicar OF Wakefield,
tired of being always wise," threw out
some word of general caution and retired
from the field.
Again the weeks ran on, bringing such
sequel as we may have guessed. Mr..
Nielsen, as Tilda's new friend wa named,
could not have been a very amusing per-
son, for it took more and more frequent
visits, until finally he came nightly, to
afford her the ''lettle fOOn'' which she
claimed as her right. Mrs. Loring ex-
pOstulated until Tilda became sullen, and
then, making up her mind that the matter
was put of her province, dropped it, short
" after which Tilda gave warning"
You are going to be married, TildaF'
Mrs. LOring said.
Tilda's face hardened, and she stood
silent.
Mrs. Loring continued, 81 have no right
to your confidence, Tilda, if you do not
choose to give it; but o have been with
NE a good while, and l am attached to
you, and I am so anxious that you should
do what is right"-the last words with a
manner SO winning that 1t broke Tilda
down.
81 kenenty halp EN-, Mcesis Lo'ing,"
she sObbed. .Neeklus hev been gone
longer time, an deys fader dOnnOt.y get
tin veil an donnotty die, IN | kenenty
always wyatt tor man wut kere more for
deys fader an mOder n dey kere for me-"
Mrs. LorinG was silent, and seeing alb
solutely no soil in which to SOW her store
of good seed, remained so, rejecting. as
she retreatcd, upon the difficulty OF graft
ing one PERSONS actions upon anOiher'S
motives.
So Tilda left at the expiration of her
month, and soon after was married.
Mrs. Loring employed another cook, and
Tllda slid INTO the past.
1t was the new cooks ''evening out"
about 4 month after Tilda's marriage.
Mrs. LorinS was reading in the library,
when a loud knocking rOused her TO a
sense that a gentler one had preceded it.
1t seemed to be at the kitchen door, and
she went herself to open it. At first she
did not recognize the man whom she
found standing there, but in an Instant it
came to her that it was Tilda's old
lover, and in hat same instant she re-
allzed with gathering indignation that
Tilda, with the cOwardice characteristic
of a weak and ignorant nature, had
shirked the hard duty of confcssing her
faithlessness and had left the result to
distance and chance. What should she
do? All this while she pleasantly wei
coined him back to America, and asked
HIM in. His zones face, which had aged
more than was natural in q year and q
half, betrayed the disappointment he felt
when Mrs. Loring, and not Tilda, opened
the door.
'.Ees Tilda gone out:" he asked.
YES" she answered.; that isl dong.
ing to gain a little time) ..She left me
over a month ago." Here she paused,
and the pity that was in her heart crept
into her face, u Nicholas perceived it.
''Ees anything com at hare:'' he asked.
in an awe struck tone. ''Ees she died.''
NO, my poor fellow" answered Mrs.
LOring, laying her delicate white hand
kindly on his big red one. '':Sit down a
minute, and try to be brave and strong.
for / have something very hard to tell
YOU"
Nicholas obeyed, his weather beaten
cheeks blanching under the brown, and
his honest blue eyes holding 81 much
wondering distress in them that Mrs.
LOrinS's task became indeed hard.
1T is better to know the worst than to
wait" she said. ''Tilda has been very
cruel and %untruthful to you, and she is
married to an A heavy groan ar
rested her words. She had spoken with
averted eyes. shrinking from gazing upon
the pain she was giving. Now she saw
that he had sunk forward in a limp heap,
head and shoulders buried in his arms
upon the table. Perfect silence followed
the grOan, and Mrs. Loring respected it:
but as minutes passed, and he neither
moved nor made q sound, she spoke to
him. Receiving no answer, she touched
his shoulder: he did not move. Then she
knew the big man had tainted. There was
ice water in h dining room, and quickly
getting a glass, she turned his head so as
to bring the face outward, and dashed a
little in it. The effect was immediate. He
opened his eyes and lifted his head. For
a moment he was quite dazed, then all
came back to him, and he staggered to his
feet.
II will 60" he said, heavily. half feel
ing, half looking about him for his hat.
"No, indeed, my poor fellowr' ex-
claimed Mrs. Loring, n 10 yet. You must
let me warm you some tea before you go
out; l Am afraid you are not WELL" And
she mOtiOned him to sit down. Then he
saw the splash of water on the table and
the front of her dress flor she had spilled
it in running, and putting his hand to his
shirt collar felt it there. He thought an
instant and the meaning came to him.
II hev mex trooble, he said, humbly;
II hev trayvel SO far, al I hev sometime
not eat mush, an MAJ heart dey's gone"
and his voice broke.
Mrs. LOring was putting the tea on the